Changing course

The Coach’s Corner Newsletter #27

When’s the last time you decided to re-direct a plan of action you implemented with your whole heart?

After mulling over how to write on a regular basis, I arrived at a plan to share a headline in the news, an insight from a coaching client and a tool that I find is effective to support my clients. For the past six months I have disseminated the Coach’s Corner newsletter every week and enjoyed the discipline of writing, researching, interviewing, reflecting and publishing. I promised I would evaluate my work after six months.

A number of you have let me know, thank you, that the most powerful elements of the pieces I write center around the insights I share and the tools to apply the learning. In other words, the coaching material.

While I’ve enjoyed leaning into my broadcasting background and using a headline to prompt the pieces, I have learned something very meaningful: lean into what I’m doing now and want to continue doing in the future.

I have the privilege of coaching executives, business owners, fellow coaches, managers, leaders, people in transition, people climbing the corporate ladder and people stepping out of the corporate world altogether. You are the ones who fuel my daily growth. And, with your permission, I’ve been able to share insights and tools that are working best for the areas on which you choose to focus.

So I’m pivoting to focus on coaching insights and coaching tools. As I deepen my own awareness of how to grow as a coach, I’m consistently offered ideas. Some are brilliant and worthy of passing on to you. I also test and work with tools that offer you a way to embrace a key piece of learning so that it takes hold and provides you clarity, an ‘aha’ moment or a way to slow down and breathe.

THIS WEEK’S INSIGHT

How to know when it’s time to shift

When Tanya was processing how to leave a position she’d held for more than 15 years and jump ship to a competitor, she told me there were several steps that led her to the specific moment when she decided to leave.

First, she outlined what she liked most and least in her current role. Then, by reaching out to folks in the new company, she considered what she wanted most and least in order to make the change. She created a checklist of the ‘must haves’ for remaining in her current role and the ‘must haves’ to jump to the new role. She also outlined what she knew she would lose by leaving her current role and what she would lose by not taking on this new position. Finally she wrote out where she sees herself in the next three years in her current role and where she sees herself in the next three years in the new role.

Once she’d done her due diligence and felt confident she’d explored the possibilities, she presented her findings to her family and shared why she’d arrived at her decision: to take the new role with a competitor.

Then it was time to share the news, and that wasn’t easy given her length of time with her current employer. She was able to communicate her gratitude for how she’d ‘grown up’ in this company and how it was time to grow further by stepping out and taking on a more risky new role. Because of Tanya’s graciousness and willingness to abide by terms of their agreement, she maintains positive relationships with members of her former team.

And what was that ‘aha’ moment for her? Tanya said by doing the work of identifying what she really wants going forward, she recognized she’d outgrown her role and was ready for the challenge. It was time for a shift.

THIS WEEK’S TOOL

Reflection

To determine what you want to shift requires a certain amount of reflection: what do you currently have? what do you want instead? how do you go after what you want next.

Using Tanya’s example, here’s a tool based on her work!

Once you go through this process, share what you learn with your family or colleagues or your coach. The more you explore, the more ready you’ll be to make a decision – one way or another.

My takeaway

Change is part of my life – depending on the day, I deal with it well or not so well. Because I accept that things have to keep shifting for me to grow, I hold onto issues/positions/things more loosely.

I still have positions that are important – for me. But I’m less likely to feel the need to persuade you to change yours.

After reflecting on what I want to write about, share with you and accomplish next…now is the time for me to shift, too.

As this year is winding down, you may be thinking about that one area where you want to change course. See what happens when you try today’s comparison tool – and reflect on what you want to do next.

The final word, today, comes from Maya Angelou.

Thank you!